


You're Still the One

by aceschwarz222



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Feels, Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Mentions of Cancer, Protective Bucky Barnes, fluffy bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 12:44:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10877052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceschwarz222/pseuds/aceschwarz222
Summary: As you and Bucky spend your last day together, you ask him to keep one important promise for you.





	You're Still the One

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: major angst, mentions of cancer, character death

The rain fell peacefully against the window as Bucky looked down at you. The day was gray and overcast, but the whole world seemed to melt away as you both hid under the warm security of your blanket. 

“You’re staring,” you mumbled sleepily. “I can feel it.”

You were right, but Bucky didn’t care. He wanted to memorize every curve of your body, every vein in your skin. Every night while you slept, he spent hours gazing up and down your sleeping form, trying to burn every little detail about you into his brain.

“I can’t help it,” Bucky whispered, tracing patterns on your bare shoulder with his left arm. You loved how the cool metal felt against your warm skin. “You’re beautiful.”

“Liar,” you laughed softly. “I know I’m not beautiful anymore.” You took a shaky breath and shifted up so you were flush against Bucky’s chest.

Cancer. The word had hit you like a grand piano falling out of the sky as you sat in the doctor’s office, trying to put on a brave face. You had known something was wrong when the headaches kept coming back, each one fiercer than the last.

Terminal. That one had brought you both to your knees, sobbing uncontrollably as you begged, bargained and argued with every deity known to man. At first, a solution seemed hopeful. Bucky knew people who knew the best doctors in the world, but each one wore the same look of disappointed sadness when they came back after the first and second rounds of chemotherapy. Eventually, you decided to stop looking for a cure and start accepting the painful reality that was staring you in the face.

Bucky kissed the top of your bald head and carefully tilted your chin towards him.

“You are still the most beautiful woman in the world to me,” he said, firmly. “You always will be.”

In his eyes, it was true. He looked down at your sunken cheeks and could see the faint blush from the first time you made love. He could see the way your vibrant blue eyes sparkled as you watched fireworks from your balcony peeking out from the purple bruises that currently aged you fifty years. As your ribs began protruding through your skin, he could still see your beautiful curves from your first trip to the beach with him. Every time he looked at you, he saw the all of you.

You couldn’t help but smile at your husband’s fierce dedication to you. That was one of your favorite qualities about him. When your headaches got so bad you couldn’t even lay on a pillow, Bucky was there to comfort you. When your own body betrayed itself and you woke up to a messy bed, Bucky gently cleaned you off in the bathtub and changed the sheets without a hint of malice or regret. When your arms felt so weak you could barely lift them, Bucky was there to feed you your favorite apple cinnamon oatmeal. He never gave up on you, never made you feel less than the amazing bride he had married only three short years before.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, tears gathering in your eyes.

“For what?” Bucky asked.

“For breaking our promise,” you replied. Bucky shot you a confused look. “I promised to grow old with you at our wedding. I’m sorry I can’t keep it.” A few tears slipped down your cheeks and Bucky gently wiped them away.

The end was coming. You knew it, and Bucky knew it. Instead of wasting time with false hope and niceties, Bucky made the painful decision to admit your truth.

“I forgive you,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I’ll always forgive you.”

You nodded and laid back down. For a few moments, all you could feel was the gentle rise and fall of Bucky’s chest and the quiet thumping of his heart.

“Promise me you’ll find someone who makes you happy,” you said, breaking the silence. “Promise me you won’t hide your heart. Because you, Bucky Barnes, have the most amazing heart in the entire world.”

Your shoulders shook as you began to sob. You could deal with feeling like dirt. You could deal with the sympathetic stares you got whenever you went out in public. You could deal with a lot. But knowing you would be leaving your best friend, your other half, your Bucky? That was so much harder to accept.

“I promise, baby,” Bucky replied, crying freely. He sat up and pulled you into his lap, gently wrapping his arms around your frail frame. He rocked you back and forth, back and forth. Bucky took a few shaky breaths and cleared his throat. “But right now,” he continued, “you’re still the one for me.”

“I love you Bucky,” you cried as you closed your eyes.

“I love you too, doll,” he choked. “So, so much.”

The rain fell peacefully against the window as Bucky held you in his arms one last time.


End file.
